Method of shaping elongated metal pieces



F. AMIQT 2,

METHOD OF SHAPING ELONGATED METAL PIECES Filed May 6, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 In uerz, Zor:

fllziorneys Feb, 13, 194. F. AMloT 23695515 METHOD OF SHAPING ELONGATED METAL PIECES Filed' May 6, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 .F'Zix A wa,

AZZarneys Patented Feb. 13, 1945 1 1 I 2,369,515 Y I METHOD OF SHAPING ELONG l n I ATED I V PIECES v 'Flix Amiot Neuilly-sur seine F v v v rance;

the Alien Property Custodian vested m Application May 6 i939 Serial No 27 In Luxemburg, April 15, 1939 2 281 Th I v Claims. (Cl. 153-32) eprese shaping piecigt invention relates to methods of them to COnf espgclany metal'piecs y c curve rm to ping memb I w T f' es. a smtable In order Obvl e chief object or the pre v. to obtain further advantages whim Wm appear sentmventionis to hereinafter, 1 roceed in such manner; accords invention, that the pieces a provide a metho which is capab the type above ref r to mg to the present I heir shaping; to a of fact, some portions of the piece to be treated tend to form undulations or folds.

ate these drawbacks, and also the course of t v eetin gigfiwe, espec ally concern i f requirements of subjected, in I Thes obtained d the a -5- the finish 0f the suitable tension or stretching, which may be, but essential feature of my of Work is not necessarily, close to the elastic limit of the e present i venti metal of which said pieces are made.

ent invention, this tension consists in sub- Jectmg the pieces to be tr ated; in According to the pres t d th 1e opera ion urmg e ourse ifi -i preferagg fi to given t nsion may be applied in a sing 1 8 totheir ela ti whole time of the shaping operation, while the ng brought into contact with the sur- Accor ing m a iece is bei t o fg i n en it fi sfirgg z the present oes oi the'bent element, or this tension may be mates r amentarteries piece guide anal ron to be bent to ii to E te d rse: air eady been bioughtinto contact a c'afriage or a e plece to be bent y m apmg Q @1 31 bent element an of mbvihg r analogous system W i t th bending of said piece betw h g gea pathsuch, and Gregg?? 16 I of accgrding to a preferred embodiment of such, that said fi' d ansfor g the invention, the tension or stretching is applied xii e effect of tff j f i ny t nd in severalsuccessive steps, and this,if need be,

01 s the m responds to tfie tlgfd fi 021123 3 28? iil stgnce the methodincludes the Other feat y utilization of relatively low tension 1f during the result fr m-th {0110. t e present inve m period of time for which the piece is brought into some specific 'emb g detailed escr idh f contact with the shaping element, then, after this 1 2 ferred embodimefi t thereof- Q 1 O 30 contact has been established, thejpiece is subwlll: e he einafter desci'i b eg v i tii i iefie ri i jectedito a higher tensi CB 0 e'acc p b p I ym v I v I in the case a ove consi v of examp1 1 p g a s, g1v e merely by Way he first value f averages 3 10 or .F 'l'is a evatlonal e r Y giggling sectional iro i :2 0 :faa machine for 3 5 dfierent manner 7 7 mad 0d ofth? vention, this in rhanc? with the app led m 1 the a aratus to be provided e according t0 thmf c me itself being Concerning now pp 7 a I 'entmn, for carrying outthe method above specified, it

ed in many different. ways. 5

limit, while t more). v v of course, the tension or stretching :rnay be 6. there remains only to with difierentvalues oi the on]? (which is for instance, dered, close to the elastic a, g 2 Se 0 v ctional a on new o the mi -II of Fig. 1; i i e 4O gsvse j it seems advantageous to have recourse, for the construction of this apparatus, to g o of the invention accordin partial d iagrammatic back view cob the piece to be treated resizralozgginfg to Figs. 1 and 2 i I e n I V} allowing description with reference to the S c 18 e 1s g a 1 d to the another feature which, inorder to cause toconform to the shape of the curve lied to said piece,

6. element,

bending and ping I tend of heet t use ismade o tru i oz i instance, for use in ae r g pl-eces I this tension serving, in combination with suitable It. is 3 ii nauitlqal guiding means; automatically to produce the deready Q for Shapin sired displacements or deformations. such-places, I Supposing, ior instance that it is desired to curvi tomake elem ants 0r irons of sultable o benda sectional iron I to the shape of at b Either re tfl ear or alrea dy curved, and to form, 7 linear element 2, ior example with a view them in'a I t table manner 9 fi' culties' thez i i l so taming a rib element for an airplane wing, said Y met Wlth is t sectional iron having, in particular, in the known ith a groove 3 along "Oat v ming ofa perfect contactof the metal at all s m a U'shaped section,

points with the shaping element. As a m tt r which it can be sawed into twoparts, and shap- I preferably make use of pneumatic or hydraulic,

means. In particular,if a certain pneumatic pressure is. available, itisadvanta'geous, especially if two principal operations are to take place at tensions f and F, to have this pressure acting through hydropneumatic relays, in such manner as to have, at will, either oftwo hydraulic pressures p and P, it being understood that it is possible to control the pneumatic pressure throughpressure relieving means.

The hydraulic or other pressure that is obtained is then caused to act:

a. Either only at one of the ends oi'the sec'- tional iron, the other end of said piece being secured in any suitable manner; or

b; At'least during thesecond step of the-process, at both ends in such manner asto. obtain, by balanci-ng'the fr ictiorrail stresses on the curved element, as suitable balancing of the tensions over the whole length otrthe piece.

In tlreembodiment: of Fig. 1, I have shown two motors, S-and Emi-the hydraulic type; which receive fluid. under pressure through flexible conduits- 1 and: 8 and areconnected to the sectional iron through jaws. 9'of any suitabletype' which hold-theendsofsaidsectibnal iron I.

Concerning now the means for bringing the secti'onapiron into intimatecont'act with'tli'e corresponding shapingpiece, through the application of the pressurathey are, for'insta-nce", advantageously made asfollows:

One; of the motors, 5 for'iristanceispivotal-1 y secured. at I 0 ts. the frame I I of the machine;-

The other motor is carried'by' a"carriage' l2 capable of moving. alonga' guiding path element 113 arranged in. vsuch manner that the application of the pressure-tends. to cause said' carriage to moveforward along said'p'ath in the desired direction. In order to: obtain thisresul't, the tangent to theguidi'ng patli should make, with the.di-- rection or the. efl'ort i exerted "by the pressure, an angle: diiierent from 90 which angle will-ibe calculatedin a suitable'm'anner as a function' ofrsaid pressure (this obliquity corresponding; for instance, to a gradient of, say; 10%) The guiding rail "l3is;, f'or instance; carried, by a support l l'which mayalso carry'm'eans for controlling the pressure such as l5, apressure gauge l6, and so on.

Advantageously, I further providemeansfor coordinating the displacements. or deformations of the piece to be-bentwith the control of the pressure, in sucli' manner that the passage from .pressure p'to' pressure P canta'kewplace only when the piece comes into itsbent position on shaping element 2'.

Forthis purpose; for instance, carriage 12 can come, at the end of its" movement, into engagementwith alockingmember l'l. Said member coacts-=with the -end- 2 B of a. finger 21 carried by the opemfimg' W e limi the. machine. Normally;

.lockingmember 20 in'coo-peration with IT, pre

vents wheel 15 from being :turned in thedirection of arrowi'f. Whemthecarriagepasses (position shown: in dotted lines inFigl) lockingmen'rber IT is moved:away, and the. operating, whee-1 IS-"can loe turned.v I might provide any. other equivalent ineansand, in particular, member I1 might be adapted. automatically to produce the shifting from pressure ptopressure P.

In Fig. 3, I have shown, by way of example, several means for the control of the pressure applied by the apparatus.

The hydropneumatic relays shown at 22 (low pressure) and 23 (high pressure) are electrically controlled through electro-valves 24, 25. In one position; these electro-val es admit into the corresponding cylinder the airtiromthe compressed air main conduit 26 and, in the other position, they connect said cylinder with the exhaust, it being well understood that, instead of this electric control, I might provide any other type of control, for instance a pneumatic control.

'I'heoperating wheel, such as 15 (Fig. 1) is adaptedsimultaneously to control:

a. On the one hand, a three way cock 2! (Fig. 3) which acts, in a first position, to connect motor 6 to the high pressure relay, and, in a second position, to connect both of the motors 5 and 6 to the high pressure relay; and,

b. On the other hand, a contactorit (Figs; 1 and 3) adapted tobrin into play-first.electro'- valve 25 and then electro-valve 25;

I thus obtain a system which worksin thefollowing manner:

At the beginning of a shaping operationgthe sectional iron occupies a position such as shown in solid lines by Fig. 1. The relays-are thenin communication with. the atmosphere, which corresponds to the zero position (Fig. 1) of wheel I5.

Thiswheel I5 is then operated indirection 1 until it comes into position I, illustrated by Fig. 1, for which the low'pressure v is introduced :into motor 6, .for instance through the action of valve 24 and cook 21, The component of this pressure in the direction of'the rolling track 13 immediately'produces thedisplacement' of carriage l2. Sectional .iron I iscaused to conform to the shape of piece" 2; The reaction at the otherend, at 5, is supported, in the embodiment illustrated Y by the drawings, bythe'frame'of the machine, due

to the fact that thejaw "s onthe'left. hand side is applied against the shaping member 2', or the frame ll.

When carriage l2 conres 'n'ear to" the endofits movement, it acts-upon locking member H. Consequently, finger 2| is unlocked, so that theoperator can actuate wheel l5 so as to bring it into position 2, which causes theh-igh' pressure to be admitted to both ofth'emotors Sand 6-.

Finally, when it is' found th'atthedeformations of the piece have become definitive, the hand wheel I5 is brought back to the zero position, which stops the action. of the pressure.

It is then possible to remove the-finished piece.

Means, such as a winch. l8 and a cable l9, may be provided for bringing back carriage l2 to its initial position. Furthermore, a compressed air conduit 30 (Fig. 3') provided with a cock 3| may also be provided for bringing back the pistons of the motors to their initial positions, by discharging the liquid toward relays 22', 23;

On the other hand, it should benoted that, in order-to avoid"the-risl-':"of the'lips oi the sectional iron being moved "toward each other, dur-- ing the stretching. operationgl may place between them small spacing members 19 (Fig. 2).

Also, it should be noted that a singlecarriag'e" l2 and a single motor-system 5 8 might-be utilized to apply a pluralityof sectional ironsto shapin In any case, it-will' be readily understood that the method according to the invention has, over exlstingmethods of the same kind, many advantages, and, in particular, the following:

The pieces are obtained without defects, and especially without folds, which are avoided by the stretching of the metal.

It is possible to apply the method to all kinds of pieces (for instance, in aeronautical construction, to sectional irons for making elements of the fuselage, of the wings, and so on) The operation is quickly efiected, since the shaping takes place under the sole action of the tension.

Of course, before and after .the shaping, the pieces may be subjected to all suitable thermic operations.

In a general manner, while I have, in the above description, disclosed what I deem to'be practical and efficient embodimentsv of the present invention, it should be well understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto as changes may be made in the arrangement, disposition and form of the parts without departing from the principle of the present invention as comprehended within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A method of shaping an elongated metal piece which comprises two stages during which the piece is subjected to relatively low and high stage, after the piece has been brought completely into contact with the shaping element, thereby pulling out any folds in the piece which may tensions respectively, consisting in applying one end of the piece to one end of a shaping element, exerting the relatively low tension on the-piece. simultaneously moving the other end of the piece to bend the piece into contact with the shaping element so that it is formed thereon progressively from the first mentioned end to the second mentioned end, during the first stage, and exertin the high tension on the piece during the second the piece respectively,

have been caused during the first stage.

2. A method of shaping an elongated metal piece which comprises two stages during which the piece is subjected to relatively low and, high longitudinal stretching forces respectively, consisting in applying one end of the piece to one end of a shaping element, exerting the relatively low stretching force on the piece, simultaneously converting a part of said low stretching force into a force which moves the other end of the piece to bend the piece into contact with the shaping element so that it is formed thereon progressively fromits first mentioned end to its second mentioned end, during the first stage, and exerting the high stretching force during the second stage, after the piece has been brought'completely into contact with the shaping element, thereby pulling out any folds in the 'piece which may have been caused during the first stage.

3. A method according to claim 1 in which the low tension has a value substantially lower than the elastic limit of the metal, and the high tension has a value corresponding nearly to the elastic limit of the metal.

4. Amethod according to claim 1 in which the low tension is of the order of magnitude of one tenth of the high tension.

5. A method according to claim 1 in which,

FELIX AMIOT. 

